Although not managing to win all the matches on the tour, the Springboks managed to win all five test matches against international opposition. Billy Millar was the tour captain even though he was the last person chosen for the tour and was not the selectors' choice of captain, but they were over-ruled by the South African Rugby Board.[1] Millar did have the advantage of being one of the few players to have toured Britain in the previous test, but was seen by the hosts as a fiery character and was not as popular with the players or fans as the 1906's tour captain, Paul Roos,[2] the other two members of the squad to have played in the 1906 tour were vice-captain Fred 'Uncle' Dobbin and Doug Morkel.

In the touring party were two sets of brothers; Richard, Freddie and John Luyt and Gerhard and Jack Morkel.[2]

1.
Scotland national rugby union team
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The Scotland national rugby union team represents Scotland in international rugby union. Rugby union in Scotland is administered by the Scottish Rugby Union, the team takes part in the annual Six Nations Championship and participates in the Rugby World Cup, which takes place every four years. As of 27 February 2017, Scotland are fifth in the World Rugby Rankings, the Scottish rugby team dates back to 1871, where they beat England in the first international rugby union match at Raeburn Place. Scotland competed in the Five Nations from the tournament in 1883. In 2000 the competition accepted a sixth competitor, Italy, thus forming the Six Nations, since this change, Scotland have yet to win the competition. Their best finish came in 1991, where they lost to the All Blacks in the third place play-off, Scotland have a strong rivalry with the English national team. They both annually compete for the Calcutta Cup, each year, this fixture is played out as part of the Six Nations, and Scotland last won it in 2008. In December 1870 a group of Scots players issued a letter of challenge in The Scotsman and in Bells Life in London, in front of around 4000 spectators, the Scots won the encounter by a try and a goal to a solitary try scored by England. England later got revenge by winning the match at the Kennington Oval. The Calcutta Cup was donated to the Rugby Football Union in 1878 by the members of the short-lived Calcutta Rugby Club, the members had decided to disband, the cup was crafted from melted-down silver rupees which became available when the Clubs funds were withdrawn from the bank. The Cup is unique in that it is competed for only by England and Scotland. The first Calcutta Cup match was played in 1879 and, since that time, in 1882 the Home Nations Championship, the fore-runner of the modern Six Nations Championship was founded with Scotland, England, Wales and Ireland taking part. Further Triple Crowns wins for Scotland followed in 1901,1903 and 1907, however, Scotlands triumph in 1907 would be the last for eighteen years as the First World War and Englands dominance afterwards would deny them glory. In 1897 land was purchased, by the SFU, at Inverleith, thus the SFU became the first of the Home Unions to own its own ground. The first visitors were Ireland, on 18 February 1899, international rugby was played at Inverleith until 1925. The SFU bought some land and built the first Murrayfield Stadium which was opened on 21 March 1925, in 1925 Scotland already had victories over France at Inverleith, Wales in Swansea and Ireland in Dublin. England, the Grand Slam champions of the two seasons were the first visitors to Murrayfield. 70,000 spectators saw the lead change three times before Scotland secured a 14–11 victory which gave them their first-ever Five Nations Grand Slam

2.
Ireland national rugby union team
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The Ireland national rugby union team represents the island of Ireland in rugby union. The team competes annually in the Six Nations Championship, which they have won twelve times outright, the team also competes every four years in the Rugby World Cup, where they reached the quarter-final stage in all but two competitions. Ireland is also one of the four unions that make up the British and Irish Lions – players eligible to play for Ireland are also eligible for the Lions, Irelands highest ever position in the World Rugby Rankings is second, which they reached for the first time in 2015. Dublin University was the first organised football club in Ireland. The club was organised by students who had learnt the game while at public schools in Great Britain, carlow, UCC, and Ballinasloe which amalgamated with Athlone to form Buccaneers. In 1874, the Irish Football Union was formed, Ireland lost their first test match against England 7–0 at the Oval on 15 February 1875. Both teams fielded 20 players in match, as was customary in the early years of rugby union. Irelands first home game was also against England in the year held at the Leinster Cricket Club in Rathmines as Lansdowne Road was deemed unsuitable. The first match at Lansdowne Road was held on 11 March 1878 and it was not until 1881 that Ireland first won a test, beating Scotland at Ormeau in Belfast. Ireland turned up two men short for their game in Cardiff in 1884 and had to borrow two Welsh players, the first victory Ireland had at Lansdowne Road took place on 5 February 1887. It was also their first win over England, by two goals to nil, on the third of March 1888, Ireland recorded their first win over Wales with a goal, a try and a drop goal to nil. In 1894, Ireland followed the Welsh model of using seven backs instead of six for the first time, after victory over England at Blackheath, Ireland won back-to-back matches for the first time when recording their first win over Scotland on 24 February 1894. Ireland went on to beat Wales in Belfast and win the Triple Crown for the first time, in the 1890s, Rugby was primarily a game for the Protestant middle class, the only Catholic in Edmund Forrests 1894 team was Tom Crean. Of the eighteen players used in the three games, thirteen were from three Dublin clubs – Wanderers, Dublin University and Bective Rangers – and the five were from Ulster. Such was the level of interest in the visit of the first All Blacks team to Dublin in November 1905 that the IRFU made the match the first all-ticket rugby international in history, Ireland played only seven forwards, copying the then New Zealand method of playing a rover. The game ended New Zealand 15 Ireland 0, on 20 March 1909, Ireland played France for the first time, beating them 19–8. This was Irelands biggest victory in international rugby at that time, their highest points tally,30 November 1912 was the first time the Springboks met Ireland at Lansdowne Road, the 1906 tour game having been played at Ravenhill. Ireland with seven new caps were overwhelmed by a margin of 38–0

3.
England national rugby union team
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The England national rugby union team represents England in rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Scotland, Italy and they are ranked second in the world by the International Rugby Board as of 20 June 2016. England were the first, and to date, the team from the northern hemisphere to win the Rugby World Cup. They were also runners-up in 1991 and 2007, the history of the team extends back to 1871 when the English rugby team played their first official Test match, losing to Scotland by one goal. England dominated the early Home Nations Championship which started in 1883, following the schism of rugby football in 1895, England did not win the Championship again until 1910. England first played against New Zealand in 1905, South Africa in 1906, England was one of the teams invited to take part in the inaugural Rugby World Cup in 1987 and went on to appear in the final in the second tournament in 1991, losing 12–6 to Australia. Following their 2003 Six Nations Championship Grand Slam, they went on to win the 2003 Rugby World Cup – defeating Australia 20–17 in extra time and they again contested the final in 2007, losing 15–6 to South Africa. England players traditionally wear a shirt with a Rose embroidered on the chest, white shorts. Their home ground is Twickenham Stadium where they first played in 1910, the team is administered by the Rugby Football Union. Four former players have been inducted into the International Rugby Hall of Fame, Englands first international match was against Scotland on Monday 27 March 1871. Not only was this match Englands first, but it proved to be the first ever rugby union international. Scotland won the match by a goal and a try to a try, in front of a crowd of 4,000 people at Raeburn Place, Edinburgh. A subsequent international took place at the Oval in London on 5 February 1872 which saw England defeat Scotland by a goal, in those early days there was no points system, it was only after 1890 that a format allowing the introduction of a points system was provided. Up until 1875 international rugby matches were decided by the number of goals scored, in 1875, England played their first game against the Irish at the Oval, winning by one goal, one drop goal and one try to nil, the match was Irelands first ever Test. England defeated Scotland in 1880 to become the first winners of the Calcutta Cup and their first match against Wales was played on 19 February 1881 at Richardsons Field in Blackheath. England recorded their largest victory, defeating the Welsh by seven goals, six tries, in 1889, England played their first match against a non-home nations team when they defeated the New Zealand Natives by one goal and four tries to nil at Rectory Field in Blackheath. In 1890 England shared the Home Nations trophy with Scotland, England first played New Zealand in 1905. The All Blacks scored five tries, worth three points at this time, to win 15–0, England first played France in 1905, and Australia in 1909 when they were defeated 9–3

4.
France national rugby union team
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The France national rugby union team represents France in rugby union. They compete annually against England, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and they have won the championship outright sixteen times, shared it a further eight times, and have completed nine grand slams. Eight former French players have been inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame, Rugby was introduced to France in 1872 by the British, and on New Years Day 1906 the national side played its first Test match – against New Zealand in Paris. France played sporadically against the Home Nations until they joined them to form a Five Nations tournament in 1910, France also competed in the rugby competitions at early Summer Olympics, winning the gold medal in 1900 and two silver medals in the 1920s. The national team came of age during the 1950s and 1960s and they won their first Grand Slam in 1968. Since the inaugural World Cup in 1987, France have qualified for the stage of every tournament. They have reached the three times, losing to the All Blacks in 1987 and 2011 and to Australia in 1999. France hosted the 2007 Rugby World Cup, where, as in 2003, France traditionally play in blue shirts with white shorts and red socks, and are commonly referred to as les tricolores or les bleus. The French emblem is a golden rooster imposed upon a red shield and their alternative strip is composed of a white shirt and navy blue shorts and socks. Rugby was introduced to France in 1872 by English merchants and students, on 26 February 1890, a French rugby team recruited from the Janson Desailly Lyceum defeated an international team at the Bois de Boulogne. Although France were represented at the 1900 Summer Olympics, their first official test match did not take place till New Years Day,1906 against the New Zealand All Blacks in Paris. France then played intermittently against the Home Nations until they joined them to form the Five Nations tournament in 1910, in 1913 France faced South Africas Springboks for the first time, losing 38–5. France also competed at the 1920 and 1924 Summer Olympics, France were ejected from the Five Nations in 1932 after being accused of professionalism in the French leagues at a time when rugby union was strictly amateur. Forced to play against weaker opposition, France went on a winning streak, France was invited to rejoin the Five Nations in 1939 but did not compete until 1947 as international rugby was suspended during World War II. French rugby came of age during the 1950s and 1960s, they won their first Five Nations championship and their first championship was won in 1954 when they shared the title with England and Wales. France won their first outright Five Nations championship in 1959, they won with two wins, a draw and a defeat, France first toured South Africa winning the test series in 1958. The Springboks also visited Paris in 1961, the test was not completed due to fighting amongst the players. France also toured New Zealand and Australia in 1961 losing both tests against the All Blacks but defeating Australias Wallabies and they won their first Five Nations Grand Slam in 1968 by beating all four other competing teams, and won numerous titles in the following years

5.
Rugby union
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Rugby union, known in some parts of the world simply as rugby, is a contact team sport which originated in England in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its most common form, a game is between two teams of 15 players using a ball on a rectangular field with H-shaped goalposts on each try line. Historically an amateur sport, in 1995 restrictions on payments to players were removed, World Rugby, originally the International Rugby Football Board and from 1998 to 2014 the International Rugby Board, has been the governing body for rugby union since 1886. Rugby union spread from the Home Nations of Great Britain and Ireland, early exponents of the sport included Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and France. Countries that have adopted rugby union as their de facto national sport include Fiji, Georgia, Madagascar, New Zealand, Samoa, Tonga, Rugby union is played in over 100 countries across six continents, there are 101 full members and 18 associate members of World Rugby. The Rugby World Cup, first held in 1987, takes place four years with the winner of the tournament receiving the Webb Ellis Cup. The Six Nations Championship in Europe and The Rugby Championship in the Southern Hemisphere are major annual competitions. The origin of football is reputed to be an incident during a game of English school football at Rugby School in 1823. Although the evidence for the story is doubtful, it was immortalised at the school with a plaque unveiled in 1895, despite the doubtful evidence, the Rugby World Cup trophy is named after Webb Ellis. Rugby football stems from the form of game played at Rugby School, Old Rugbeian Albert Pell, a student at Cambridge, is credited with having formed the first football team. During this early period different schools used different rules, with pupils from Rugby. Other important events include the Blackheath Clubs decision to leave the Football Association in 1863, despite the sports full name of rugby union, it is known simply as rugby throughout most of the world. The first rugby football international was played on 27 March 1871 between Scotland and England, by 1881 both Ireland and Wales had representative teams, and in 1883 the first international competition, the Home Nations Championship had begun. 1883 is also the year of the first rugby tournament, the Melrose Sevens. During the early history of union, a time before commercial air travel. The first two notable tours both took place in 1888—the British Isles team touring New Zealand and Australia, followed by the New Zealand team touring Europe, All three teams brought new styles of play, fitness levels and tactics, and were far more successful than critics had expected. After Morgan began singing, the crowd joined in, the first time a national anthem was sung at the start of a sporting event, in 1905 France played England in its first international match

6.
South Africa national rugby union team
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The South Africa national rugby union team, commonly known as the Springboks, is governed by the South African Rugby Union. The Springboks play in green and gold jerseys with white shorts, and their emblems are the Springbok, the team has been representing South Africa in international rugby union since 30 July 1891, when they played their first test match against a British Isles touring team. The team made its World Cup debut in 1995, when the newly democratic South Africa hosted the tournament, South Africa regained their title as champions 12 years later, when they defeated England 15–6 in the 2007 final. They were named 2008 World Team of the Year at the Laureus World Sports Awards, the Springboks also compete in the annual Rugby Championship, along with southern-hemisphere counterparts Argentina, Australia and New Zealand. They have won this championship on three occasions in sixteen years and they also play Test matches against the various rugby-playing nations. Their position in the World Rugby Rankings has varied between the No.1 and No.7 positions, the first British Isles tour took place in 1891, at Diocesan College. These were the first representative games played by South African sides, the tourists won all twenty matches they played, conceding only one point. The British Isles success continued on their tour of 1896, winning three out of four tests against South Africa, South Africas play improved markedly from 1891, and their first test win in the final game was a pointer to the future. In 1903 the British Isles lost a series for the first time in South Africa, Rugby was given a huge boost by the early Lions tours, which created great interest in the South African press. South Africa would not lose another series—home or away—until 1956, the first South African team to tour the British Isles and France occurred during 1906–07. The team played tests against all four Home Nations, England managed a draw, but Scotland was the only one of the Home unions to gain a victory. The trip instilled a sense of pride among South Africans. The South Africans played a match against a France team while the official French team were in England. It was during this tour that the nickname Springboks was first used, the 1910 British Isles tour of South Africa was the first to include representatives from all four Home unions. The tourists won just one of their three tests, the Boks second European tour took place in 1912–13. They beat the four Home nations to earn their first Grand Slam, by the first World War, New Zealand and South Africa had established themselves as rugbys two greatest powers. A Springbok tour to New Zealand and Australia in 1921 was billed as The World Championship of Rugby, the All Blacks won the first Test 13–5, The Springboks recovered to win the second Test 9–5, and the final Test was drawn 0–0, resulting in a series draw. The 1924 British and Irish Lions team to South Africa lost all four Tests to the Springboks and this was the first side to pick up the name Lions, apparently picked up from the Lions embroidered on their ties

7.
Wales national rugby union team
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The Wales national rugby union team represent Wales in international rugby union. They compete annually in the Six Nations Championship with England, France, Ireland, Italy, Wales have won the Six Nations and its predecessors 26 times outright. Wales most recent championship win came in 2013, the governing body, the Welsh Rugby Union, was established in 1881, the same year that Wales played their first international against England. Wales performances in the Home Nations Championship continued to improve, experiencing their first golden age between 1900 and 1911 and they first played New Zealand, known as the All Blacks, in 1905, when they defeated them 3–0 in a famous match at Cardiff Arms Park. Welsh rugby struggled between the two World Wars, but experienced a golden age between 1969 and 1980 when they won eight Five Nations Championships. Wales played in the inaugural Rugby World Cup in 1987 where they achieved their best ever result of third, following the sport allowing professionalism in 1995, Wales hosted the 1999 World Cup and, in 2005, won their first Six Nations Grand Slam. That was the first Grand Slam won by a team playing most of the matches away from home, Wales won two more Grand Slams in 2008 and in 2012, and in 2011 came fourth in the Rugby World Cup. Their home ground is the Millennium Stadium, currently known for reasons as Principality Stadium. Eight former Welsh players have been inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame, Rugby union took root in Wales in 1850, when Reverend Rowland Williams became Vice-Principal at St Davids College, Lampeter, where he introduced the sport. Wales played their first international on 19 February 1881, organised by Newports Richard Mullock, Wales played against England, losing by seven goals, one drop goal, on 12 March 1881, the Welsh Rugby Union was formed at The Castle Hotel, Neath. Two years later, the Home Nation Championship – now the Six Nations Championship – was first played, however, rugby in Wales developed and, by the 1890s, the Welsh had developed the four three-quarters formation. This formation – with seven backs and eight forwards, instead of six backs and nine forwards – revolutionised the sport and was adopted almost universally at international. With the four three-quarter formation Wales became Home International Champions for the first time in 1893, Wales next won the Championship in 1900, heralding the first golden age of Welsh rugby which was to last until 1911. They won two more Triple Crowns in 1902 and 1905, and were runners up in 1901,1903 and 1904, when Wales faced New Zealands All Blacks at Cardiff Arms Park in late 1905 they had not lost at home since 1899. The referee ruled a scrum to Wales and the score did not change, the loss was the All Blacks only loss on their 35-match tour. In 1906, Wales again won the Home Championship, and later that played the South African national side. Wales were favourites to win the match, but instead South Africa dominated in the forwards, two years later, on 12 December 1908, Wales played the touring Australians, the Wallabies, who they defeated 9–6. In 1909, Wales won the Home Championship and then, in 1910 – with the inclusion of France – the first Five Nations and it would be nearly forty years before they achieved a Grand Slam again

8.
Paul Roos (rugby player)
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Paul Johannes Roos was one of the first South African Springbok rugby union captains and led the first South African rugby team to tour overseas – to Britain in 1906. Roos was born near the South African town of Stellenbosch on 30 October 1880, Roos was a popular rugby player and was chosen by his own teammates to captain the 1906 tour. A devout Christian, Roos was an excellent ambassador for the game and helped promote the South Africans as a fair, with no first class team in the area, he joined the Villagers in 1900, before returning to the Stellenbosch University side in 1901. By 1902 Roos was captaining the team, and led the team with great success, by 1903 Roos had been selected for the Western Province team, but was such a devout Christian, he refused to play or travel on a Sunday. This led to Roos refusing to play for the Western Province team in the Currie Cup of 1904 as it would mean he would need to travel on a Sunday. The Western Province captain wrote to a professor at Stellenbosch University, Roos brother, Gideon Roos, followed his older brother playing for both Stellenbosch and Western Province before he himself played international rugby for South Africa. Before his first international match Roos faced the 1903 touring British Isles while representing Western Province, after his performance for Western Province, Roos was selected to represent the South African national team in 1903 in the final Test against the British Isles. The first two Test matches had ended in draws, and when the South Africans won, they took their first series against a British team. In 1906 Roos was part of the first overseas touring South African team, the bulk of the team was made up of Western Province players, who had recently won the Currie Cup. Roos, who was the player not to have undertaken a trial for the match as he was seen as a certainty for the team, was elected by the rest of the players to be the team captain. The tour to Britain, Ireland and France took in 29 matches, including Test games against the four Home Nations, the tour began with great expectations, as the previous season had seen the Original All Blacks tour Britain with incredible success. The first 15 games were against club and county teams, with the South Africans victorious in every encounter, the first international encounter for the team was against Scotland, played in front of a record crowd of 30,000. The Springboks were back on winning form the next game against the North of Scotland. Roos lead his team out at the Balmoral Showgrounds in an exciting match, after the first half, Roos men were leading 3–12, but brilliant play from Ireland levelled the scores to 12–12 before a try from the wing settled the game in the South Africans favour. The game against Wales was the most anticipated of the tour, Wales had been unofficially crowned the Worlds best team after a Triple Crown winning season in 1905 and a win over the All Blacks in the Game of the Century. The Glamorgan team that had run the South Africans close earlier in the tour had contained twelve internationals, South Africa beat Newport by a goal and a try to nil, and after the game the two team captains sat down at the Westgate Hotel for a post-match dinner. Roos asked Charlie Pritchard, the Newport skipper, how the Newport forwards and this revelation became a controversial talking point when the Welsh press heard of it. The match against Wales was set for 1 December 1906, and was played at St. Helens Ground in Swansea

9.
Uncle Dobbin
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Frederick James Dobbin universally known as Uncle Dobbin was a South African rugby union player who represented South Africa on nine occasions. Dobbin played in two tours and was the vice-captain to Paul Millars 1912 team. Dobbin was first selected for the rugby team in 1903. South Africa had an international record to date, having played seven matches, all against the British Isles. The 1903 tourists had a campaign before meeting the South African national team, having lost seven of the 16 games against the invitational county. Dobbin was brought into the South African team for the First Test, the game was very tight, with both teams scoring two converted tries to leave the final score 10-10. Dobbin celebrated his first cap by scoring one of the two South African tries, converted by Fairy Heatlie

10.
Bath, Somerset
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Bath is a city in the ceremonial county of Somerset, England, known for its Roman-built baths. In 2011, the population was 88,859, Bath is in the valley of the River Avon,97 miles west of London and 11 miles south-east of Bristol. The city became a World Heritage Site in 1987, the city became a spa with the Latin name Aquæ Sulis c. AD60 when the Romans built baths and a temple in the valley of the River Avon, Bath Abbey was founded in the 7th century and became a religious centre, the building was rebuilt in the 12th and 16th centuries. In the 17th century, claims were made for the properties of water from the springs. Many of the streets and squares were laid out by John Wood, the Elder, and in the 18th century the city became fashionable, Jane Austen lived in Bath in the early 19th century. Further building was undertaken in the 19th century and following the Bath Blitz in World War II, the city has software, publishing and service-oriented industries. Theatres, museums, and other cultural and sporting venues have helped make it a centre for tourism with more than one million staying visitors and 3.8 million day visitors to the city each year. There are several museums including the Museum of Bath Architecture, Victoria Art Gallery, Museum of East Asian Art, the city has two universities, the University of Bath and Bath Spa University, with Bath College providing further education. Sporting clubs include Bath Rugby and Bath City F. C. while TeamBath is the name for all of the University of Bath sports teams. Bath became part of the county of Avon in 1974, and, the hills in the locality such as Bathampton Down saw human activity from the Mesolithic period. Several Bronze Age round barrows were opened by John Skinner in the 18th century, solsbury Hill overlooking the current city was an Iron Age hill fort, and the adjacent Bathampton Camp may also have been one. A long barrow site believed to be from the Beaker people was flattened to make way for RAF Charmy Down, messages to her scratched onto metal, known as curse tablets, have been recovered from the sacred spring by archaeologists. The tablets were written in Latin, and cursed people whom the writers felt had wronged them, for example, if a citizen had his clothes stolen at the baths, he might write a curse, naming the suspects, on a tablet to be read by the goddess. A temple was constructed in AD 60–70, and a complex was built up over the next 300 years. Engineers drove oak piles into the mud to provide a stable foundation, in the 2nd century, the spring was enclosed within a wooden barrel-vaulted structure that housed the caldarium, tepidarium, and frigidarium. The town was given defensive walls, probably in the 3rd century. After the failure of Roman authority in the first decade of the 5th century, in March 2012 a hoard of 30,000 silver Roman coins, one of the largest discovered in Britain, was unearthed in an archaeological dig

11.
Exeter
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Exeter is a cathedral city in Devon, England with a population of 127,300. It lies within the county of Devon, of which it is the county town as well as the home of Devon County Council, currently, the administrative area has the status of a non-metropolitan district and is therefore under the administration of the County Council. The city is on the River Exe about 37 miles northeast of Plymouth and 70 miles southwest of Bristol, Exeter was the most south-westerly Roman fortified settlement in Britain, although there is evidence a Cornish tribe existed in Exeter before the Roman invasion. Exeter became a centre during the Middle Ages and into the Tudor times, Exeter Cathedral, founded in the mid 11th century. During the late 19th century, Exeter became an affluent centre for the wool trade, after the Second World War, much of the city centre was rebuilt and is now considered to be a centre for modern business and tourism in Devon and Cornwall. The name Exe is a development of the Brittonic name—meaning water or, more exactly, full of fish —that also appears in the English Axe and Esk, the Welsh Usk. Exeter began as settlements on a dry ridge ending in a spur overlooking a navigable river teeming with fish, although there have been no major prehistoric finds, these advantages suggest the site was occupied early. Coins have been discovered from the Hellenistic kingdoms, suggesting the existence of a settlement trading with the Mediterranean as early as 250 BC. Such early towns had been a feature of pre-Roman Gaul as described by Julius Caesar in his Commentaries, the Romans established a 42-acre playing-card shaped fort named Isca around AD55. To distinguish the two, the Romans also referred to Exeter as Isca Dumnoniorum, Watertown of the Dumnonii, a small fort was also maintained at Topsham, a supply depot on the route between the two was excavated at St Loyes on Topsham Road in 2010. The presence of the built up an unplanned civilian community of natives. This area was excavated in the 1970s, but could not be maintained for public view owing to its proximity to the present-day cathedral, in January 2015, it was announced that Exeter Cathedral had launched a bid to restore the baths and open an underground centre for visitors. In the late 2nd century, the ditch and rampart defences around the old fortress were replaced by a bank and wall enclosing a much larger area, although most of the visible structure is older, the course of the Roman wall was used for Exeters subsequent city walls. Thus about 70% of the Roman wall remains, and most of its route can be traced on foot, the dating of the coins so far discovered, however, suggests a rapid decline, virtually none have been discovered dated after the year 380. By that time, the city was held by the Saxons, Exeter was known to the Saxons as Escanceaster. In 876, it was attacked and briefly captured by Danish Vikings, alfred the Great drove them out the next summer. Over the next few years, he elevated Exeter to one of the four burhs in Devon and these permitted the city to fend off another attack and siege by the Danes in 893. King Athelstan again strengthened the walls around 928, and at the time drove out the remaining Britons from the city

12.
Redruth
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Redruth is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The population of Redruth was 14,018 at the 2011 census, Camborne and Redruth together form the largest urban area in Cornwall and before local government reorganisation were an urban district. The name Redruth derives from its older Cornish name, Rhyd-ruth and it is the -ruth which means the colour red. Traditionally in the Penwith Hundred, the town has developed away from the original settlement and this location is a steeply wooded valley, with Carn Brea on one side and the now-called Bullers Hill on the other. The presence of shallow lodes of tin and copper lying east to west made it a site for extracting metals, including, tin, lead. The first settlers stayed by a crossing in the river and started extracting metal ores, historically, Redruth was a small market town overshadowed by its neighbours until a boom in the demand for copper ore during the 18th century. Copper ore had mostly been discarded by the Cornish tin-mining industry but was now needed to make brass, surrounded by copper ore deposits, Redruth quickly became one of the largest and richest mining areas in Britain and the towns population grew markedly, although most miners families remained poor. The Mining Exchange was built in 1880 as a place for the trading of mineral stock, Redruth was making its transition from a market town dominated by mines and industry to a residential centre. By the end of the 19th century, the Cornish mining industry was in decline, to find employment, many miners emigrated to the newer mining industries in the Americas, Australasia and South Africa. Cornwalls last fully operational mine, South Crofty at Pool between Redruth and Camborne, closed in March 1998, Redruth School, a Technology College, is a secondary school and sixth form college, for ages 11–18. Primary schools within the town include Pennoweth School, Treleigh School, Treloweth Community Primary School, Trewirgie Infant School, the Curnow Community Special School caters for students with special needs. The Parish Church of St Uny, which is distance from the town centre, is of Norman foundation but was rebuilt in 1756. The patron saint is also honoured at Lelant, the tower is two centuries earlier and the whole church is built of granite. A chapel of ease was built in the town in 1828, other places of worship include the Wesleyan Church of 1826, the Free Methodist Church of 1864 and the Quaker Meeting House of 1833. The former post office in Alma Place is now known as the Cornish Studies Centre, the Mining Exchange building is now used as a housing advice centre. The house now called Murdoch House in the middle of Cross Street was erected in the 1660s as a chapel, william Murdoch lived in it from 1782 to 1798. During this time, he worked on local tin and copper mines, erecting engines on behalf of Boulton and he fitted the house out with gas lighting from coal gas – this was the first house in the world with this type of lighting. In the 19th century, the house was used as a tea room, in 1931 Mr A. Pearce Jenkin, a leading citizen of Redruth purchased the house and gave it as a gift to the Society of Friends

13.
Pontypool
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Pontypool is a town of approximately 36,000 people in the county borough of Torfaen, within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire in South Wales. It is situated on the Afon Lwyd river in the county borough of Torfaen, situated on the eastern edge of the South Wales coalfields, Pontypool grew around industries including iron and steel production, coal mining and the growth of the railways. A rather artistic manufacturing industry also flourished here alongside heavy industry was Japanning. Pontypool has a history as one of the earliest industrial towns in Wales. The Afon Lwyd valley, in which Pontypool is situated, provided an abundance of resources for the manufacturing of iron, including coal, iron ore, charcoal and waterpower. The wider technological developments of the Tudor period, such as the utilisation of blast furnaces to produce iron, allowed for the greater exploitation of the mineral resources of south Wales. A blast furnace was in use at Monkswood, near Pontypool, an ironworks was established in what later became Pontypool Park in c. Furthermore, he secured the rights to extract coal and iron-ore on Lord Abergavenny’s Hills in, the Hanburys were also active at Cwmlickey, Lower Race and Blaendare during the seventeenth century as the demand for coal was met. Tinplate was being produced at Pontypool from c,1706, with an important tin mill in operation at Pontymoile during the early eighteenth century. During the 1660s, Thomas Allgood of Northamptonshire, was appointed manager of the Pontypool Ironworks, Allgood developed the Pontypool ‘japanning’ process, whereby metal plate could be treated in a way that generated a lacquered and decorative finish. There was a demand for these artistic, luxury products and Allgood’s sons, Edward and Thomas, established a japanworks in Pontypool. The brothers produced a range of products, including decorative bread baskets, tea trays, dishes and other items, following the death of Edward Allgood in 1761 there was a family quarrel between his two sons and a rival japanning factory was established in Usk. Both the Pontypool and Usk concerns had ceased production by the early 1820s, from the mid to late eighteenth century, as the industrial revolution took hold, there was a massive expansion in the economic development of south Wales. Iron-making flourished in emerging towns and settlements, notably at Merthyr Tydfil, Tredegar, by the early nineteenth century, south Wales was the most important centre of iron production in the world. Whilst Pontypool was not as competitive as some of the larger towns, it retained a niche in the metallurgical market. The twentieth century witnessed a decline in the industries of south Wales. The growth of Pontypool accompanied the development of industry, originally a dispersed, rural settlement, the first centres of growth took place in the hamlets of Trosnant and Pontymoile. However, as the focus of industry and investment became increasingly centred on Pontypool, Pontypool was little village within old Trevethin parish in the ancient hundred of Abergavenny of the County of Monmouth

14.
Cardiff Arms Park
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Cardiff Arms Park, also known as The Arms Park and the BT Sport Cardiff Arms Park for sponsorship reasons from September 2014, is situated in the centre of Cardiff, Wales. It is primarily known as a union stadium, but it also has a bowling green. The Arms Park was host to the British Empire and Commonwealth Games in 1958, the Arms Park also hosted the inaugural Heineken Cup Final of 1995–96 and the following year in 1996–97. The history of the ground begins with the first stands appearing for spectators in the ground in 1881–1882. Originally the Arms Park had a ground to the north. By 1969, the ground had been demolished to make way for the present day rugby ground to the north. The site also has a green to the north of the rugby ground, which is used by Cardiff Athletic Bowls Club. The National Stadium also hosted music concerts including Michael Jackson, David Bowie, Bon Jovi, The Rolling Stones. The Cardiff Arms Park site was called the Great Park. The hotel was built by Sir Thomas Morgan, during the reign of Charles I, Cardiff Arms Park was named after this hotel. From 1803, the Cardiff Arms Hotel and the Park had become the property of the Bute family, the Arms Park soon became a popular place for sporting events, and by 1848, Cardiff Cricket Club was using the site for its cricket matches. However, by 1878, Cardiff Arms Hotel had been demolished, the 3rd Marquess of Bute stipulated that the ground could only be used for recreational purposes. At that time Cardiff Arms Park had a ground to the north. 1881–2 saw the first stands for spectators, they held 300 spectators, the architect was Archibald Leitch, famous for designing Ibrox Stadium and Old Trafford, amongst others. In 1890, new standing areas were constructed along the length of the ground. By 1912, the Cardiff Football Ground, as it was known, had a new south stand and temporary stands on the north. The south stand was covered, while the terrace was initially without a roof. The improvements were funded by the Welsh Rugby Union

15.
Llanelli RFC
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Llanelli Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union club founded in 1875 Since the regionalisation of Welsh rugby Llanelli are now a feeder club to the Scarlets regional team. The club began the 2008–09 season at their home ground of Stradey Park in Llanelli. Sosban Fach is a nickname of Llanelli RFC, Sosban Fach is the name of a Welsh song, the team colours are scarlet and white. Llanelli RFC was founded on 11 November 1875 when a group of local gentlemen met at the Athenaeum in Llanelli to form a football club. The first recorded match was played on 1 January 1876, against Cambria, the result was a draw, but Llanelli were declared winners as they had grounded the ball defensively fewer times than their opponents. Their second match was against Swansea on 5 February 1876, another draw, during this early period the team played in blue shirts and blue caps at Peoples Park. Llanelli RFC moved to Stradey Park in 1879, switching their colours to blue, the team switched their colours three more times before 1884, adopting black, then rose before switching to red and chocolate quarters. In 1884 Llanelli played an Irish XV who stopped off in the town and their first major trophies came in 1884 and 1886 with the South Wales Challenge Cup, the forerunner of the modern Welsh Cup. December 1888 saw the team beat a touring New Zealand Natives team by 3–0 with a goal from Harry Bowen. The team claimed their first full international scalp in 1908 when they beat Australia 8–3 and this would be the first of many famous victories over touring international sides. Players that wore the Scarlet jersey in this era included Albert Jenkins. After the war Lewis Jones was one of the stars of the game and he was capped by Wales aged just 18 in 1950, and was instrumental in their Grand Slam win that year. However just two later, he switched codes from the then amateur rugby union to the professional rugby league. Success was however not away from Stradey for long, a victory over Australia came in 1967 and the club was about to enter what many would argue was its strongest era. 9 –3 is a poem by Welsh comedian and singer Max Boyce, Llanelli took a 6–0 lead through a converted try but New Zealand struck back to make it 6–3. A long distance Andy Hill penalty ensured Llanelli emerged victors by 9–3, the poem is best known for the line The day the pubs ran dry, as huge celebrations followed and many pubs in the town sold out of all alcoholic drinks. The next notable period for Llanelli RFC was during the late 1980s, with players such as Ieuan Evans amongst the squad, Llanelli won the Welsh Cup five times in eight years between 1985 and 1993 including in consecutive seasons in 1991,1992 and 1993. They achieved their most recent success against international opponents when they beat Australia, the late 1990s and early years of the 21st century also produced many Welsh internationals including Rupert Moon, Ricky Evans, Wayne Proctor, Scott Quinnell and Stephen Jones

16.
Stradey Park
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Stradey Park was a rugby union stadium located near the centre of the town of Llanelli in Carmarthenshire, Wales. It was the home of the Scarlets region and Llanelli RFC rugby teams, the stadium was a combination of seating and standing with a total capacity of 10,800. With the Scarlets having moved to Parc y Scarlets, Stradey Park was demolished in 2010 and is to be replaced with housing, the ground originally opened in 1879 for use by Llanelli RFC. In 1887, Stradey Park was chosen to host its first international rugby union match, Stradey Park was selected as part of the 1887 Home Nations Championship, with the opening home match for Wales being against England. The adjacent cricket ground was in condition, so the match was moved there along with the entire crowd. Four years later, Stradey Park was given chance to host the national side when they were again selected to host the Home Nations Championship. In the final match, Stradey Park played host to Ireland and again temporary stands were erected, on this occasion there were no problems and the ground successfully hosted an international match on 7 March 1891. Two years later, Stradey Park was the venue of the 1893 Home Nations Championship. Wales, under the captaincy of Welsh rugby legend Arthur Gould, beat the Irish team by a try scored by Goulds brother. The score not only gave Wales the win but also saw Wales lift the Triple Crown for the very first time in the countrys history, the ground has seen many memorable games including the defeat of Australia in 1967 and the All Blacks in 1972. It also hosted the match between Argentina and Samoa during the 1999 Rugby World Cup, one rugby league game was held at Stradey Park. This was between Wales and Lebanon in the 2000 Rugby League World Cup on 2 November 2000. Due to the owners, Llanelli RFU Ltd. having financial difficulties following the game turning professional. The ground was repurchased by Llanelli RFU Ltd. in 2005, on 24 October 2008, the Scarlets defeated Bristol in the last ever game to be held at the ground by 28 points to nil, a crowd of over 10,800 witnessing the event. When the Scarlets regional side was formed in 2004, it was decided that they would play the majority of their fixtures at Stradey Park. Llanelli RFC continued to play their matches at the ground. The stadium was also host for the Llanelli A. F. C, UEFA Cup games in the 2006/07 season. The last ever game to be played at Stradey Park was played on 24 October 2008, in an EDF Energy Cup match between the Scarlets and Bristol, the Scarlets won 27–0

17.
Newport RFC
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Newport Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union club based in the city of Newport, South Wales. They presently play in the Welsh Premier Division, Newport RFC are based at Rodney Parade situated on the east bank of the River Usk. Due to the regionalisation of Welsh rugby in 2003 Newport RFC is now a club to Newport Gwent Dragons regional team. Newport supplied over 150 players to the Wales national team and international players to England, Scotland, Ireland, South Africa, Czech Republic, Canada, Newport’s early success was remarkable, winning every single match in their first four seasons between 1875 and 1879. They were also successful in other tournaments winning the first two South Wales Cup competitions, the club’s strength was reflected at international level, providing more players to the Welsh national team than any other club in the nineteenth century, including four captains. In 1881 Newport was one of the clubs present at the forming of the Welsh Rugby Football Union. Their dominance led Newport’s club secretary, Richard Mulloch to arrange a match against the English domestic champions Blackheath Rugby Club, with a record attendance of 5,000 spectators Newport were out-classed by their opponents, losing four goals and eight tries to nil. However, Newport had played two games in the five days and Blackheath brought in outside players to bolster their squad. In October 1879 Newport played Cardiff RFC in a game at Rodney Parade. In 1887, Newport player Charlie Newman was given the captaincy of the Welsh national team, in 1887 Newport player Tom Clapp was given the Wales captaincy and in 1888 he led the first Welsh side to beat Scotland, a team that included Newport players Powell and Gould. During the 1891–92 season, under captain Tom Graham Newport went unbeaten, winning 29 games, Graham brought a new professional attitude to the team, introducing weekly gym training and an avoidance of alcohol. In 1912 Newport hosted the touring South Africa national team, invincible in 1922–23 Welsh Club Champions 1920,1923. Provided 5 Welsh,1 English and 1 Irish captains, golden era of Wetter, Uzzell, Griffiths, Morley, Bunner Travers etc. Golden era of Jones, Burnett, Thomas, Meredith, Price, Watkins, beat Australia 1957, NZ1963, SA1969, Tonga 1974. Welsh Club Champions 1951,1956,1962,1969, won Welsh Merit Table and Anglo-Welsh Merit Table. Provided 7 Welsh,1 Czech Rep,2 Canadian,1 Fijian captains, introduced 7’s to Wales and won Snellings 10 times and R/U9 times. One of pioneers of floodlights in Wales, introduced squad systems / players playing on rota in Wales. Won Welsh Cup twice, R/U3 times, Welsh Premier League winners and R/U – twice

18.
Rodney Parade
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Rodney Parade is a stadium in the city of Newport, South Wales. It is operated by Rodney Parade Limited, a wholly owned by Newport Rugby Football Club. It is located on the east bank of the River Usk in Newport city centre, the ground is on Rodney Road, a short walk from the citys central bus and railway stations via Newport Bridge or Newport City footbridge. There is no car park at the ground but a number of multi-storey car parks are nearby. Rodney Parade is the ground of rugby union clubs Newport RFC. It is also the ground of Newport County football club. However, stadium capacity is reduced for football matches, Newport Squash Club has four courts at Rodney Parade. Rodney Parade has two covered stands, the two-tier Hazell Stand and the Bisley Stand which are along the touchlines of the pitch, the upper tier of the west stand is seated with 1,996 seats, including 40 Press seats and the lower tier is a standing terrace. The east stand is all-seated with a 2,526 capacity including 144 seats in 13 hospitality boxes, food/drink outlets, the cameras are therefore pointing westward and often show the sun setting over Newport city centre. The North Terrace is uncovered standing and adjoins the uncovered standing terrace on the west touchline alongside the west stand, the south end of the stadium houses players changing rooms, a media centre and the small uncovered Sytner stand with 222 seats for away football fans. Away football fans are also sited in block F of the east stand giving a capacity of 1,300 for away football fans. A large video screen was erected at the end in December 2013. The hospitality suite is located in the end of the east stand on the upper level. The rugby ticket office and club shop is located at the end of the East Stand next to Gate 4 accessed via the main gates to the grounds off Grafton Road. The Newport County ticket office and club shop is a building just inside the main gate to the ground. To the north of the North Terrace is a floodlit training area. Further north, parallel to Grafton Road, is the Rodney Hall function room, in 1875 the Newport Athletic Club was created, and two years later they secured the use of land at Rodney Parade from Lord Tredegar for their cricket, tennis, rugby and athletics teams. Monmouthshire County Cricket Club played at Rodney Parade from 1901 to 1934, Newport rugby club enjoyed six highly successful seasons, having been unbeaten for six consecutive seasons

19.
Blackheath, London
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Blackheath is an area of south-east London, divided between the Royal Borough of Greenwich and the London Borough of Lewisham, located east of the town of Lewisham, and south of the town of Greenwich. It is notable for its pubs, village-y feel. The name is recorded in 1166 as Blachehedfeld and means the dark coloured heathland and it is formed from the Old English blæc and hǣth and refers to the open space that was the meeting place of the ancient hundred of Blackheath. The name was applied to the Victorian suburb that developed in the 19th century and was extended to the areas known as Blackheath Park. An urban myth is that Blackheath was associated with the 1665 Plague or the Black Death of the mid-14th century, virtually every part of London has a local tradition about plague pits under, say, a local school or shop. The sheer number of bodies meant that the traditional churchyards became, as one put it. During the seventeenth century Blackheath was, along with Hounslow Heath, in 1673 the Blackheath Army was assembled under Marshal Schomberg to serve in the Third Anglo-Dutch War. The Roman road that became known as Watling Street crosses the northern edge of Blackheath, probably heading for the mouth of Deptford Creek. Blackheath was a point for Wat Tylers Peasants Revolt of 1381. Wat Tyler is remembered by Wat Tyler Road on the heath, after pitching camp on Blackheath, Cornish rebels were defeated in the Battle of Deptford Bridge, just to the west, on 17 June 1497. With Watling Street carrying stagecoaches across the heath, en route to north Kent, in 1909 Blackheath had a local branch of the London Society for Womens Suffrage. The Vanbrugh Pits are on the north-east part of the heath, the site of old gravel workings, Vanbrugh Pits have long been reclaimed by nature and form one of the more attractive parts of the generally rather flat Blackheath. It is particularly attractive in spring when the extensive gorse blossoms, the pits are named after Sir John Vanbrugh, architect of Blenheim Palace and Castle Howard, who had a house nearby, adjacent to Greenwich Park, now called Vanbrugh Castle. Mince Pie House built for his family, survived until 1911, the sizeable estate of Blackheath Park, created on lands of Wricklemarsh Manor by John Cator is situated east of Blackheath. The Cator Estate was built on part of the formerly owned by Sir John Morden. The Cator Estate also contains innovative 1960s Span houses and flats by the renowned Span Developments, St Michael and All Angels Church, designed by local architect George Smith and completed in 1830, was dubbed the Needle of Kent in honour of its tall, thin spire. All Saints Church, situated on the heath, designed by the architect Benjamin Ferrey, another Anglican church, St John the Evangelists, was designed in 1853 by Arthur Ashpitel. The Pagoda is an example of a beautiful property situated in Blackheath

20.
Portsmouth
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Portsmouth is a port city in Hampshire, England, mainly on Portsea Island,70 miles south-west of London and 19 miles south-east of Southampton. It is the United Kingdoms only island city and has a population of 205,400, the city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Southampton and the towns of Havant, Waterlooville, Eastleigh, Fareham, and Gosport. The citys history can be traced to Roman times, a significant naval port for centuries, Portsmouth has the worlds oldest dry dock and was Englands first line of defence during the French invasion in 1545. Special Palmerston Forts were built in 1859 in anticipation of invasion from continental Europe. The worlds first mass production line was set up in the city, during the Second World War, the city was a pivotal embarkation point for the D-Day landings and was bombed extensively in the Portsmouth Blitz, which resulted in the deaths of 930 people. In 1982, the city housed the entirety of the forces in the Falklands War. Her Majestys Yacht Britannia left the city to oversee the transfer of Hong Kong in 1997, Portsmouth is one of the worlds best known ports. HMNB Portsmouth is the largest dockyard for the Royal Navy and is home to two-thirds of the UKs surface fleet, the city is home to some famous ships, including HMS Warrior, the Tudor carrack Mary Rose and Horatio Nelsons flagship, HMS Victory. The former HMS Vernon naval shore establishment has been redeveloped as a park known as Gunwharf Quays. Portsmouth is among the few British cities with two cathedrals, the Anglican Cathedral of St Thomas and the Roman Catholic Cathedral of St John the Evangelist, the waterfront and Portsmouth Harbour are dominated by the Spinnaker Tower, one of the United Kingdoms tallest structures at 560 feet. Nearby Southsea is a resort with a pier amusement park. Portsmouth F. C. the citys football club, play their home games at Fratton Park. The city has several railway stations that connect to London Waterloo amongst other lines in southern England. Portsmouth International Port is a cruise ship and ferry port for international destinations. The port is the second busiest in the United Kingdom after Dover, the city formerly had its own airport, Portsmouth Airport, until its closure in 1973. The University of Portsmouth enrols 23,000 students and is ranked among the worlds best modern universities, Portsmouth is also the birthplace of author Charles Dickens and engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel. The Romans built Portus Adurni, a fort, at nearby Portchester in the third century. The citys Old English name Portesmuða is derived from port, meaning a haven, and muða and it was mentioned in an Anglo-Saxon Chronicle entry for the year 501, Her cwom Port on Bretene 7 his. ii

21.
Northampton
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Northampton /nɔːrθˈæmptən/ is the county town of Northamptonshire in the East Midlands of England. It lies on the River Nene, about 67 miles north-west of London and 50 miles south-east of Birmingham, One of the largest towns in the UK, Northampton had a population of 212,100 in the 2011 census. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the dates back to the Bronze Age, Roman. During the Middle Ages, the rose to national significance with the establishment of Northampton Castle. Medieval Northampton had many churches, monasteries and the University of Northampton and it was granted its first town charter by King Richard I in 1189 and its first mayor was appointed by King John in 1215. The town is also the site of two battles, the Battle of Northampton and the second in 1460. The town also suffered the Great Fire of Northampton which destroyed most of the town and it was soon rebuilt and grew rapidly with the industrial development of the 18th century. Northampton continued to grow following the creation of the Grand Union Canal, after the World Wars, Northamptons growth was limited until it was designated as a New Town in 1968, accelerating development in the town. Northampton unsuccessfully applied for status in 1996 and city status in 2000. According to Centre for Cities data in 2015, Northampton had a growth of 11. 3% between the years 2004 and 2013, one of the ten highest in the UK. The earliest reference to Northampton in writing occurred in 914 under the name Ham tune, the prefix North was added later to distinguish it from other towns called Hampton, most prominently Southampton. The Domesday Book records the town as Northantone, which evolved into Norhamptone by the 13th century, present-day Northampton is the latest in a series of settlements that began in the Bronze Age. During the British Iron Age, people lived in protected hill forts. Present-day Hunsbury Hill is an example of settlement, a circular ditch. In the Roman period, a rural settlement is thought to have existed in the present-day district of Duston. Following Danish invasion, the area of the town was turned into a stronghold called a burh. A ditch was dug around the settlement and it was fortified with earth ramparts, having conquered Mercia, the Danes turned the settlement into a centre for military and administrative purposes, which was part of the Danelaw. In the 9th century Regenhere of Northampton an East Anglian Saint with localised veneration was buried in Northampton, by 918, Northampton had an earl and an army dependent upon it, whose territory extended to the River Welland

22.
Oxford University RFC
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The Oxford University Rugby Football Club is the rugby union club of the University of Oxford. The club contests The Varsity Match every year against Cambridge University at Twickenham, Oxford University RFC was founded in 1869, fifteen months before the creation of the Rugby Football Union. The first Varsity Match was played in February 1872 in Oxford at The Parks, in 1874 it was decided that the game be played on a neutral ground. The very first international player to be capped whilst at Oxford was Cecil Boyle, the record for most appearances in a Varsity Match for Oxford is held by Lewis Anderson who has played in six matches between 2010 and 2015, all won by Oxford

23.
Oxford
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Oxford is a city in the South East region of England and the county town of Oxfordshire. With an estimated 2015 population of 168,270, it is the 52nd largest city in the United Kingdom, the city is situated 57 miles from London,69 miles from Bristol,65 miles from both Southampton and Birmingham and 25 miles from Reading. The city is known worldwide as the home of the University of Oxford, buildings in Oxford demonstrate notable examples of every English architectural period since the late Saxon period. Oxford is known as the city of dreaming spires, a term coined by poet Matthew Arnold, Oxford has a broad economic base. Its industries include motor manufacturing, education, publishing and a number of information technology and science-based businesses. Oxford was first settled in Saxon times and was known as Oxenaforda, meaning Ford of the Oxen. It began with the establishment of a crossing for oxen around AD900. In the 10th century, Oxford became an important military frontier town between the kingdoms of Mercia and Wessex and was on several occasions raided by Danes, Oxford was heavily damaged during the Norman Invasion of 1066. Following the conquest, the town was assigned to a governor, Robert DOyly, the castle has never been used for military purposes and its remains survive to this day. DOyly set up a community in the castle consisting of a chapel. The community never grew large but it earned its place in history as one of Britains oldest places of formal education and it was there that in 1139 Geoffrey of Monmouth wrote his History of the Kings of Britain, a compilation of Arthurian legends. Mary at Oseney and to the canons serving God in that place and we have made this concession and confirmation in the Common council of the City and we have confirmed it with our common seal. These are those who have made this concession and confirmation, a grandson of King John established Rewley Abbey for the Cistercian Order, and friars of various orders all had houses of varying importance at Oxford. Parliaments were often held in the city during the 13th century, the Provisions of Oxford were instigated by a group of barons led by Simon de Montfort, these documents are often regarded as Englands first written constitution. Richard I of England and John, King of England the sons of Henry II of England, were born at Beaumont Palace in Oxford, on 8 September 1157 and 24 December 1166 respectively. A plaque in Beaumont Street commemorates these events, the University of Oxford is first mentioned in 12th century records. Of the hundreds of Aularian houses that sprang up across the city, what put an end to the halls was the emergence of colleges. Oxfords earliest colleges were University College, Balliol and Merton and these colleges were established at a time when Europeans were starting to translate the writings of Greek philosophers

24.
Leicester
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Leicester is a city and unitary authority area in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest, in the 2011 census the population of the City of Leicester unitary authority was 329,839 making it the most populous municipality in the East Midlands region. The associated urban area is also the 11th most populous in England, the name of Leicester is recorded in the 9th-century History of the Britons as Cair Lerion, and in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as Ligora-ceastre. In the Domesday Book of 1086, it is recorded as Ledecestre, the second element of the name comes from the Latin castrum which is reflected in both Welsh cair and Anglo-Saxon ceastre. Based on the Welsh name, Geoffrey of Monmouth proposes a king Leir of Britain as a founder in his Historia Regum Britanniae. Leicester is one of the oldest cities in England, with a going back at least two millennia. The native Iron Age settlement encountered by the Romans at the seems to have developed in the 2nd or 1st centuries BC. This area of the Soar was split into two channels, a stream to the east and a narrower channel on the west. The settlement seems to have controlled a ford across the larger channel, the later Roman name was a latinate form of the Brittonic word for ramparts, suggesting the site was an oppidum. The plural form of the name suggests it was composed of several villages. The Celtic tribe holding the area was recorded as the Coritanians. The Corieltauvians are believed to have ruled over roughly the area of the East Midlands and it is believed that the Romans arrived in the Leicester area around AD47, during their conquest of southern Britain. The Corieltauvian settlement lay near a bridge on the Fosse Way, in the 2nd century, it received a forum and bathhouse. In 2013, the discovery of a Roman cemetery found just outside the old city walls, the remains of the baths of Roman Leicester can be seen at the Jewry Wall, recovered artifacts are displayed at the adjacent museum. Knowledge of the following the Roman withdrawal from Britain is limited. Certainly there is continuation of occupation of the town, though on a much reduced scale in the 5th and 6th centuries. Its memory was preserved as the Cair Lerion of the History of the Britons, following the Saxon invasion of Britain, Leicester was occupied by the Middle Angles and subsequently administered by the kingdom of Mercia. It was elevated to a bishopric in either 679 or 680, this see survived until the 9th century and their settlement became one of the Five Burghs of the Danelaw, although this position was short-lived

25.
Cambridge University R.U.F.C.
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The Cambridge University Rugby Union Football Club, sometimes abbreviated CURUFC, is the rugby union club of the University of Cambridge. The team plays Oxford University RFC in the annual Varsity Match at Twickenham Stadium every December, Cambridge players wear light blue and white hooped jerseys with a red lion crest. Many have gone on to represent their country and the British and Irish Lions, whilst at Cambridge University James Bevan became the first captain of the Wales national rugby union team. Football is believed to have introduced to Cambridge University in 1839 by Trinity College fresher Albert Pell. Pell had matriculated at Cambridge after going up from Rugby School, Cambridge University Rugby Union Football Club was officially established in 1872, around three years after the Oxford rugby club was founded. The first Varsity match was contested between the two teams on 10 February 1872, the Cambridge team was led out by captain Isaac Cowley Lambert, wearing pink jerseys with a monogram on the left breast. Played away at the Park in Oxford, Cambridge lost by a goal to nil. CURUFC officials helped to draw up the laws of the game that were adopted by the Rugby Football Union when it was established in 1871, Cambridge became a Constituent Body of the Union in 1872, a status which the club still holds today. In 1874, Cambridge provided their first international player directly from the club, the following former players were selected for the British and Irish Lions touring squads whilst playing for Cambridge University. P. Oxford v Cambridge, The Story of the University Rugby Match

26.
Cambridge
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Cambridge is a university city and the county town of Cambridgeshire, England, on the River Cam about 50 miles north of London. At the United Kingdom Census 2011, its population was 123,867, there is archaeological evidence of settlement in the area in the Bronze Age and in Roman Britain, under Viking rule, Cambridge became an important trading centre. The first town charters were granted in the 12th century, although city status was not conferred until 1951, the University of Cambridge, founded in 1209, is one of the top five universities in the world. The university includes the Cavendish Laboratory, Kings College Chapel, the citys skyline is dominated by the last two buildings, along with the spire of the Our Lady and the English Martyrs Church, the chimney of Addenbrookes Hospital and St Johns College Chapel tower. Anglia Ruskin University, evolved from the Cambridge School of Art, Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology Silicon Fen with industries such as software and bioscience and many start-up companies spun out of the university. More than 40% of the workforce has a higher education qualification, the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, one of the largest biomedical research clusters in the world, is soon to be home to AstraZeneca, a hotel and the relocated Papworth Hospital. Parkers Piece hosted the first ever game of Association football, the Strawberry Fair music and arts festival and Midsummer Fairs are held on Midsummer Common, and the annual Cambridge Beer Festival takes place on Jesus Green. The city is adjacent to the M11 and A14 roads, settlements have existed around the Cambridge area since prehistoric times. The earliest clear evidence of occupation is the remains of a 3, the principal Roman site is a small fort Duroliponte on Castle Hill, just northwest of the city centre around the location of the earlier British village. The fort was bounded on two sides by the lines formed by the present Mount Pleasant, continuing across Huntingdon Road into Clare Street, the eastern side followed Magrath Avenue, with the southern side running near to Chesterton Lane and Kettles Yard before turning northwest at Honey Hill. It was constructed around AD70 and converted to use around 50 years later. Evidence of more widespread Roman settlement has been discovered including numerous farmsteads, evidence exists that the invading Anglo-Saxons had begun occupying the area by the end of the century. Their settlement—also on and around Castle Hill—became known as Grantebrycge, Anglo-Saxon grave goods have been found in the area. During this period, Cambridge benefited from good trade links across the hard-to-travel fenlands, by the 7th century, the town was less significant and described by Bede as a little ruined city containing the burial site of Etheldreda. Cambridge was on the border between the East and Middle Anglian kingdoms and the settlement slowly expanded on both sides of the river, the arrival of the Vikings was recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in 875. Viking rule, the Danelaw, had been imposed by 878 Their vigorous trading habits caused the town to grow rapidly. During this period the centre of the town shifted from Castle Hill on the bank of the river to the area now known as the Quayside on the right bank. In 1068, two years after his conquest of England, William of Normandy built a castle on Castle Hill, like the rest of the newly conquered kingdom, Cambridge fell under the control of the King and his deputies

27.
Newcastle upon Tyne
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Newcastle is the most populous city in the North East and forms the core of the Tyneside conurbation, the eighth most populous urban area in the United Kingdom. Newcastle is a member of the English Core Cities Group and is a member of the Eurocities network of European cities. Newcastle was part of the county of Northumberland until 1400, when it became a county of itself, the regional nickname and dialect for people from Newcastle and the surrounding area is Geordie. Newcastle also houses Newcastle University, a member of the Russell Group, the city developed around the Roman settlement Pons Aelius and was named after the castle built in 1080 by Robert Curthose, William the Conquerors eldest son. The city grew as an important centre for the trade in the 14th century. The port developed in the 16th century and, along with the lower down the River Tyne, was amongst the worlds largest shipbuilding and ship-repairing centres. Newcastles economy includes corporate headquarters, learning, digital technology, retail, tourism and cultural centres, among its icons are Newcastle United football club and the Tyne Bridge. Since 1981 the city has hosted the Great North Run, a marathon which attracts over 57,000 runners each year. The first recorded settlement in what is now Newcastle was Pons Aelius and it was given the family name of the Roman Emperor Hadrian, who founded it in the 2nd century AD. This rare honour suggests Hadrian may have visited the site and instituted the bridge on his tour of Britain, Pons Aelius population at this period was estimated at 2,000. Fragments of Hadrians Wall are visible in parts of Newcastle, particularly along the West Road, the course of the Roman Wall can be traced eastwards to the Segedunum Roman fort in Wallsend—the walls end—and to the supply fort Arbeia in South Shields. After the Roman departure from Britain, completed in 410, Newcastle became part of the powerful Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria, conflicts with the Danes in 876 left the river Tyne and its settlements in ruin. After the conflicts with the Danes, and following the 1088 rebellion against the Normans, Monkchester was all, because of its strategic position, Robert Curthose, son of William the Conqueror, erected a wooden castle there in the year 1080. The town was known as Novum Castellum or New Castle. The wooden structure was replaced by a castle in 1087. The castle was again in 1172 during the reign of Henry II. Much of the keep which can be seen in the city dates from this period. Throughout the Middle Ages, Newcastle was Englands northern fortress, incorporated first by Henry II, the city had a new charter granted by Elizabeth in 1589

28.
Inverleith
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Inverleith is an inner suburb in the north of Edinburgh, Scotland, on the fringes of the central region of the city. Its neighbours include Trinity to the north and the New Town to the south, with Canonmills at the south-east and Stockbridge at the south-west. Like a great many places in and around Lothian and Edinburgh, some documents refer to the area as Inner Leith. It is characterised by its wealth of open green space, the Royal Botanic Gardens nursery garden, for growing and cultivating plants, is also located here. Within Inverleith, there are few shops and offices. Today Inverleith is home to houses often being sold considerably in excess of one million pounds sterling and these include Scotlands most expensive penthouses, selling for £1. 5m, and a recently renovated villa, which sold for over two million pounds sterling. The houses are generally handsome and spacious Victorian or Edwardian villas with two or three floors, garages and quite large gardens, the residents tend to be employed in professions in central Edinburgh. It is convenient for workers, as it lies only a mile. Being on grounds slightly higher than the centre, it views of the Edinburgh skyline, including Edinburgh Castle. It has one of the lowest crime rates in the city, within the area are Fettes College, an independent boarding school where former British Prime Minister Tony Blair was educated, and the state-run Broughton High School. Edinburgh Academy, an independent day school where the previous British Lord Chancellor Lord Falconer was educated, is located nearby in the north of the New Town, Inverleith was for over two centuries owned by the Rocheid family. It changed hands when a co-heiress, Mary married Sir Francis Kinloch, 3rd Baronet and their son Alexander inherited the entire Inverleith estates, and changed his surname to become Alexander Rocheid of Inverleith. Alexander and his descendants spent most of their time in Germany, in 1774, Inverleith House was built, to designs by the architect David Henderson. It is maintained as a popular tourist attraction, local leisure amenity. In 1889 the City acquired South Inverleith Mains Farm from the Rocheid family to create Inverleith Park and this large and includes allotments and a well maintained pond, popular for use by model boat enthusiasts and well populated with water birds and occasionally Kingfishers. The Park also the site of French Boule Competitions, cricket, rugby union and football Matches are played there as well. There are also tennis and volleyball courts maintained by Edinburgh Council, the park has hosted the Edinburgh International Science Festival, and is also used as a viewing area for fireworks set off over central Edinburgh. In 1897 land at Inverleith was purchased by the Scottish Rugby Union, thus the organisation became the first of the Home Unions to own its own ground

29.
Glasgow
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Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland, and third largest in the United Kingdom. Historically part of Lanarkshire, it is now one of the 32 council areas of Scotland and it is situated on the River Clyde in the countrys West Central Lowlands. Inhabitants of the city are referred to as Glaswegians, Glasgow grew from a small rural settlement on the River Clyde to become the largest seaport in Britain. From the 18th century the city grew as one of Great Britains main hubs of transatlantic trade with North America. Glasgow was the Second City of the British Empire for much of the Victorian era and Edwardian period, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries Glasgow grew in population, reaching a peak of 1,128,473 in 1939. The entire region surrounding the conurbation covers about 2.3 million people, at the 2011 census, Glasgow had a population density of 8, 790/sq mi, the highest of any Scottish city. Glasgow hosted the 2014 Commonwealth Games and is well known in the sporting world for the football rivalry of the Old Firm between Celtic and Rangers. Glasgow is also known for Glasgow patter, a dialect that is noted for being difficult to understand by those from outside the city. Glasgow is the form of the ancient Cumbric name Glas Cau. Possibly referring to the area of Molendinar Burn where Glasgow Cathedral now stands, the later Gaelic name Baile Glas Chu, town of the grey dog, is purely a folk-etymology. The present site of Glasgow has been settled since prehistoric times, it is for settlement, being the furthest downstream fording point of the River Clyde, the origins of Glasgow as an established city derive ultimately from its medieval position as Scotlands second largest bishopric. Glasgow increased in importance during the 10th and 11th centuries as the site of this bishopric, reorganised by King David I of Scotland and John, there had been an earlier religious site established by Saint Mungo in the 6th century. The bishopric became one of the largest and wealthiest in the Kingdom of Scotland, bringing wealth, sometime between 1189 and 1195 this status was supplemented by an annual fair, which survives as the Glasgow Fair. Glasgow grew over the following centuries, the first bridge over the River Clyde at Glasgow was recorded from around 1285, giving its name to the Briggait area of the city, forming the main North-South route over the river via Glasgow Cross. The founding of the University of Glasgow in 1451 and elevation of the bishopric to become the Archdiocese of Glasgow in 1492 increased the towns religious and educational status and landed wealth. Its early trade was in agriculture, brewing and fishing, with cured salmon and herring being exported to Europe, Glasgow was subsequently raised to the status of Royal Burgh in 1611. The citys Tobacco Lords created a water port at Port Glasgow on the Firth of Clyde. By the late 18th century more than half of the British tobacco trade was concentrated on Glasgows River Clyde, at the time, Glasgow held a commercial importance as the city participated in the trade of sugar, tobacco and later cotton

30.
Lansdowne Road
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The Lansdowne Road Stadium was a stadium in Dublin owned by the Irish Rugby Football Union that was primarily for used rugby union and association football matches. The stadium was demolished in 2007 to make way for the construction of the Aviva Stadium, the stadium took its name from the adjacent street called Landsdowne Road. The stadium was situated in the neighbourhood of Ballsbridge in the citys Dublin 4 area, the stadium had convenient public transport links as the Lansdowne Road station of the Dublin Area Rapid Transit rail system is adjacent to the site and passed directly underneath the West Stand. The stadium was named after the road, which in turn was named after William Petty-FitzMaurice. The Marquis was also the Earl of Shelburne, and nearby Shelbourne Road is also named after him, the stadium had a total capacity of 49,250, with 25,000 seats. However, competitive football matches could not use the entire capacity because the stands at both ends of the ground were standing-only terraces. FIFA and UEFA both mandate that international matches be played in all-seated venues, a temporary capacity of 36,000 was the result for competitive soccer. World Rugby, known as the International Rugby Board when the current Aviva Stadium opened, for non-competitive international football matches, the FIFA/UEFA all-seated mandate does not apply. At the IRFU ground, Irish rugby and football matches were played. Leinster also used the ground on a number of occasions when crowd size meant their home of Donnybrook was not large enough. In 1999 and 2003, Lansdowne Road played host to the Heineken Cup final, since 1990, Lansdowne was also a regular host of the FAI Cup Final. The stadium had also hosted concerts from artists such as Michael Jackson, Robbie Williams, Oasis, U2. The Lansdowne Road Stadium was the brainchild of Henry Dunlop, the organiser of the first All Ireland Athletics Championships, Dunlop, a decorated track walker and engineering graduate of Trinity College, Dublin, founded the Irish Champion Athletic Club in 1871. After an initial meeting at Trinity College, the Provost of the College banned any further meeting on campus, Dunlop had to find a new home for his sporting endeavours. Writing in 1921, Dunlop stated, I was therefore forced to look for another plot, on the tennis club grounds the first tennis championship was held long before Fitzwilliam meetings. Dunlop founded Lansdowne Football Club in 1872 and that club has played rugby union ever since at the grounds, being one of the most prominent and successful clubs in Leinster. Wanderers Football Club, founded in 1869, joined Lansdowne at the grounds later, the two clubs were tenants since that time, and also use the new Aviva stadium. Some 300 cartloads of soil from a trench beneath the railway were used to raise the ground, Dunlop charged the IRFU £5 and half of any profits over £50 after expenses

31.
Belfast
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Belfast is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, the second largest on the island of Ireland, and the heart of the tenth largest Primary Urban Area in the United Kingdom. On the River Lagan, it had a population of 286,000 at the 2011 census and 333,871 after the 2015 council reform, Belfast was granted city status in 1888. Belfast played a key role in the Industrial Revolution, and was an industrial centre until the latter half of the 20th century. It has sustained a major aerospace and missiles industry since the mid 1930s, industrialisation and the inward migration it brought made Belfast Irelands biggest city at the beginning of the 20th century. Today, Belfast remains a centre for industry, as well as the arts, higher education, business, and law, additionally, Belfast city centre has undergone considerable expansion and regeneration in recent years, notably around Victoria Square. Belfast is served by two airports, George Best Belfast City Airport in the city, and Belfast International Airport 15 miles west of the city. Although the county borough of Belfast was created when it was granted city status by Queen Victoria in 1888, the site of Belfast has been occupied since the Bronze Age. The Giants Ring, a 5, 000-year-old henge, is located near the city, Belfast remained a small settlement of little importance during the Middle Ages. The ONeill clan had a presence in the area, in the 14th century, Cloinne Aodha Buidhe, descendants of Aodh Buidhe ONeill built Grey Castle at Castlereagh, now in the east of the city. Conn ONeill of the Clannaboy ONeills owned vast lands in the area and was the last inhabitant of Grey Castle, evidence of this period of Belfasts growth can still be seen in the oldest areas of the city, known as the Entries. Belfast blossomed as a commercial and industrial centre in the 18th and 19th centuries, industries thrived, including linen, rope-making, tobacco, heavy engineering and shipbuilding, and at the end of the 19th century, Belfast briefly overtook Dublin as the largest city in Ireland. The Harland and Wolff shipyards became one of the largest shipbuilders in the world, in 1886 the city suffered intense riots over the issue of home rule, which had divided the city. In 1920–22, Belfast became the capital of the new entity of Northern Ireland as the island of Ireland was partitioned, the accompanying conflict cost up to 500 lives in Belfast, the bloodiest sectarian strife in the city until the Troubles of the late 1960s onwards. Belfast was heavily bombed during World War II, in one raid, in 1941, German bombers killed around one thousand people and left tens of thousands homeless. Apart from London, this was the greatest loss of life in a raid during the Blitz. Belfast has been the capital of Northern Ireland since its establishment in 1921 following the Government of Ireland Act 1920 and it had been the scene of various episodes of sectarian conflict between its Catholic and Protestant populations. These opposing groups in conflict are now often termed republican and loyalist respectively. The most recent example of conflict was known as the Troubles – a civil conflict that raged from around 1969 to 1998

32.
Birkenhead Park
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Birkenhead Park is a public park in the centre of Birkenhead, in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, in Merseyside, England. It was designed by Joseph Paxton and opened on 5 April 1847 and it is generally acknowledged as the first publicly funded civic park in the world. Paxton had earlier designed Princes Park, Liverpool, a private development, in 1841 an Improvement Commission – part of Birkenheads local government – proposed the idea of a municipal park. A Private Act of Parliament allowed it to use money to buy 226 acres of marshy grazing land on the western edge of Birkenhead. Plots of land on the edge of the park were then sold off in order to finance its construction. The Improvement Commission chose Paxton to design the park and Edward Kemp as the works supervisor because both had worked on redesigning the gardens at Chatsworth House. The park, which five years to build, was designed to be natural and informal rather than a structured neatly arranged urban garden. Several miles of pipes were lain to remove the water from the marshy land. The park also led to the diversion of Old Bidston Road, during construction, hundreds of tonnes of stone and earth was moved to create well-drained terraces, hills, rockeries and lakes. Paxton planted numerous trees and shrubs at various places so visitors would enjoy the surprise of unexpected views or hidden features as they wandered through the park, buildings included the Swiss Bridge, Boathouse, Norman Lodges, Gothic Lodge, Castellated Lodge and Italian Lodge. The Grand Entrance, which is one of several into the park, was built to look like a triumphal arch. As many as 10,000 people attended the opening in 1847. During the First World War, part of the park was used as a ground by the 3rd Battalion of the Cheshire Regiment. Recruits stayed at the Birkenhead Barracks on Grange Road West, conscientious objectors were sent to the 3rd Cheshires because the battalion had a tough reputation. The family of a trade unionist and conchie, George Beardsworth, watched as he was repeatedly beaten. Although his treatment at Birkenhead led to questions in Parliament and a case against the officers and men involved. In 1917 the National Eisteddfod of Wales, which was attended by Prime Minister David Lloyd George, was held within the park, the park had already paid host to the event in 1878 and 1879. During the Second World War the area was damaged by bombs, the park became run down and neglected towards the end of the part of the 20th century

33.
Neath RFC
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Neath Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union club which plays in the Welsh Premier Division. The clubs home ground is The Gnoll, Neath, the first team is known as the All Blacks because of the team colours, black with only a white cross pattée as an emblem. Neath RFC is the oldest rugby club in Wales, having formed in 1871. They are feeder club to the Ospreys regional team, Neath Rugby Football club was established in 1871 by a consortium of ten enthusiasts, their captain at the time, T. P. Whittington would later play international rugby for Scotland in 1873. The clubs nickname, The Welsh All Blacks, comes from their iconic strip of black jersey, shorts, the origin of the team colours is not known for sure. Originally the clubs represented the team in various dark kits. It is believed that the strip was later switched to the black kit as a mark of respect to player Dick Gordon. On 12 June 1881, eleven teams met in the Castle Hotel, strangely Neath RFC was not recorded as being present, even though the meeting took place in the town. It is unknown if this was an oversight by the committee to record the presence of the club, one theory put forward is that the president, John Llewellyn and secretary, Sam Clark of the South Wales Football Union were both Neath men. By attending this new union they would be destroying the SWFU, Sam Clark would in turn become the first Welsh international from Neath RFC, playing in the second Wales game on 28 January 1882. In 1887/88 Neath RFC undertook their first tour of the northern English clubs, including Hartlepool, Manningham, the next season Neath played host to Widnes on Christmas Day before undertaking a further northern tour taking on a further five teams in six days. During the 1890/91 season a South West England tour was introduced and their 2008/09 cup winning season, in which they claimed a jammy victory over Llanelli at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff. This was the first year since the cup name changed from Konica Minolta Cup to Swalec Cup and their 2007/08 championship season, their fourth in succession, was overshadowed by the death of scrum-half of Gareth Jones, on 16 June 2008. Jones had been injured in a match against Cardiff RFC on 20 April, Neath RFC hold the world record for the number of points and tries accumulated in one season. This record was set during the 1988/89 season, it is worth noting that a try was worth 4 points at the time the record was broken. The record for the most tries scored in a game in the era is held by Richard Smith. In January 2010 against Kidwelly RFC Smith scored 7 tries, the pre-regional record of 6 tries is jointly held by Howie Jones, W. D. Williams, Keith Maddocks, Alan Edmunds. The company that runs Neath RFC is Neath Rugby Ltd and owns 50% of the Ospreys professional side, geraint Hawkes,48, and Janis Hawkes,75, were given the ban at a hearing in Cardiff on Wednesday

34.
The Gnoll
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The Gnoll in Neath, Wales is a sports ground, with a capacity of 5,000. It is used primarily for rugby union and rugby league, although it has also used previously for association football. In July 2009, Neath RFC presented plans for the redevelopment of the Gnoll, including building a community centre on the site, the Gnoll is the traditional home of Neath RFC, one of the leading Welsh clubs in the pre-regional era of rugby. It has hosted Neath since the club was founded in 1871, the ground has a capacity of 5,000. South Wales Scorpions have played at the Gnoll since their formation in 2010, the ground hosted a Wales national rugby league team match during the 2010 European Cup, where Wales defeated Ireland 31-30. It also hosted Ireland at the Gnoll in at the 2011 Rugby League Four Nations, Wales won the game by 30 points to 6. The stadium also hosted Wales v Cook Islands at the 2013 Rugby League World Cup, it was the smallest venue used at the tournament, Welsh Premier League club Neath Athletic played at The Gnoll between 2008, and their liquidation in 2012. The ground hosted its first ever football match when Neath Athletic played Swansea City in a friendly in July 2008. The Gnoll started to host some Glamorgan County Championship fixtures in the 1930s, however, problems with the pitch meant that from the late 1960s the ground was only used for one-day matches - in 1969 the Gnoll staged the countys first-ever home game in the Sunday League. In 1974, the Gnoll was dropped from the countys 1st XI fixture list, list of rugby league stadiums by capacity

35.
Cardiff RFC
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Cardiff Rugby Football Club is a rugby union football club based in Cardiff, the capital city of Wales. The club was founded in 1876 and played their first few matches at Sophia Gardens and they built a reputation as one of the great clubs in world rugby largely through a series of wins against international touring sides. Both South Africa and New Zealand have been beaten by Cardiff, through its history Cardiff RFC have provided more players to the Welsh national side and British and Irish Lions than any other Welsh club. The first recognised team to begin playing rugby in Cardiff was Glamorgan Football Club, the team was formed by a group of young men during the 1873/74 season, after a circular letter was sent to interested parties by S. Campell Cory. Playing under the Cheltenham College rules, Glamorgan FC had increased its membership to sixty six by November 1874,1874 saw Glamorgans first away game, against Cowbridge Grammar School, and by 1875 the team played its first encounter with Newport. Of the three teams, Glamorgan and Wanderers became the most notable, but both teams rarely travelled, and both had difficulty beating the now established clubs of Newport and Swansea. The supporters of both clubs started an agitation in the summer of 1876 for the two clubs to amalgamate, to give Cardiff town a chance of beating the neighbouring teams. On Friday 22 September 1876 members of the Glamorgan and Wanderers clubs met at the Swiss Hall in Queen Street, Cardiff and decided to make a single club, the first team captain was Donaldson Selby of Glamorgan and the vice-captain W. D. Phillips of Wanderers. Cardiff FC played their first fixture on 2 December 1876, versus Newport at Wentloog Marshes, in 1881, Cardiff beat Llanelli to win the South Wales Challenge Cup, though the tournament was scrapped soon after due to persistent crowd trouble. In 1881, Newport based sports administrator, Richard Mullock, formed the first Welsh international rugby team, despite the team losing heavily to England, Mullock had chosen four players from Cardiff to represent the team, club captain William David Phillips, vice-captain B. B. Mann, Barry Girling and Leonard Watkins, a reflection on the clubs importance at the time, a month later, on 12 March 1881, Cardiff RFC was one of the eleven clubs present at the formation of the Welsh Rugby Union in Neath. A notable early player was Frank Hancock, a skilful centre, Hancock first played for Cardiff due to an injury to a first regular. The system was adopted by the Welsh national team and the seven backs. Cardiff RFC and Hancock were jointly recognised by the International Rugby Board in 2011 for this innovation with induction to the IRB Hall of Fame, in 1898, Cardiff were unofficial club champions of Wales for the first time. One year later, centre Gwyn Nicholls became the first Cardiff player to play for the British and Irish Lions, Nicholls would also go on to captain Wales between 1902 and 1906. In 1904, Cardiff players fly-half Percy Bush, centre Rhys Gabe and Arthur Boxer Harding all went on the Lions tour to Australia and New Zealand. Bush scored in the first and second test against Australia, as Nicholls had, and thanks to his tries and goal-kicking during the first three Tests, finished as the top Test points scorer. In 1905, there were four Cardiff players in the Wales team that famously beat New Zealand, Harding, Nicholls, Bush, Gabe and Bert Winfield, after an eight-year wait, Cardiff also managed to win the unofficial Welsh club championship in 1906 and 1907

36.
Swansea RFC
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Swansea Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union team which plays in the Welsh Premiership. Its home ground is St Helens Rugby and Cricket Ground in Swansea, the team is also known as The Whites because of the primary colour of the team strip. The club is a club to the Ospreys. The club was founded in 1872 and, in 1881 it became one of the founder clubs of the Welsh Rugby Union. In the early twentieth century Swansea RFC was a successful club. For four consecutive seasons Swansea were the unofficial Welsh champions from the 1898/99 season through to 1901/02, under the captaincy of Frank Gordon the team would later go on a 22-month unbeaten run, from December 1903 through to October 1905. During this period Swansea appeared to be under-represented at international level, the immediate post war years brought only limited success, although a notable 6-6 draw was achieved against New Zealand in 1953 followed by a 9-8 victory against Australia in 1966. It was not until the centenary season in 1973/74, however. Swansea achieved further success as club champions in 1979/80, 1980/81, the 1990s saw success for the club, including being league champions on 4 occasions and Welsh cup winners in 1995 and 1999. A memorable 21-6 victory was recorded over then World champions Australia at St Helens on 4 November 1992, in season 1995/96 Swansea reached the semi-final stage of the European Cup. The 2003/04 season has seen a significant change with the introduction of rugby in Wales. Swansea Rugby Football Club Ltd, alongside Neath RFC are co-owners of the Ospreys, as a result, Swansea RFC returned to being an amateur team. In their first season Swansea missed out on promotion back to the Premiership, Swansea RFC defeated New Zealand 11-3 on Saturday 28 September 1935, becoming the first ever club side to beat the All Blacks. In November 1992, Swansea RFC defeated world champions Australia 21-6, players may hold more than one non-WR nationality. The following former players were selected for the British and Irish Lions touring squads whilst playing for Swansea RFC, the following former players captained the Wales national rugby union team whilst playing for Swansea RFC. See also Wales rugby union captains The players listed below have played for Swansea and have played international rugby. Fields of Praise, The Official History of The Welsh Rugby Union, Swansea RFC/The Whites Ospreys Official Website Welsh Rugby Union

37.
St. Helen's Rugby and Cricket Ground
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St Helens Rugby and Cricket Ground is a sports venue in Swansea, Wales, owned and operated by the City and County of Swansea Council. Used mainly for rugby union and cricket, it has been the ground of Swansea RFC. In rugby union, St Helens was the venue for the first ever match of the Wales national team in 1882. It continued to be used regularly by Wales, often for the Five Nations Championship, until 1954, more recently, the ground has been used by the Wales womens team. Glamorgan County Cricket Club have regularly used St Helens as an outground since 1921, the ground has staged two One Day Internationals, England against New Zealand in 1973, and a 1983 World Cup match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka. St Helens has also staged international matches in two other sports, in rugby league, Wales played thirteen matches at the ground between 1945 and 1978, two of which were part of the 1975 World Cup tournament. A football international between Wales and Ireland took place at St Helens in 1894, since the ground opened in 1873 it has been the home of the Swansea Rugby Football Club, and the Swansea Cricket Club. In 2005, the venue could hold an audience of 10,500 seated before it was re-developed, the famous east stand, which had provided cloisters over part of Oystermouth Road, has since been demolished and replaced with a metallic stand unloved by locals. The tallest flood light stand in Europe is in St. Helens Ground and this was to accommodate a new car park with 39 spaces for the Patti Pavilion. The first home international in the history of Welsh rugby was played at St Helens on 16 December 1882, the ground was the scene of New Zealands first victory over Wales in 1924. On 10 April 1954, St. Helens staged its last international until a Test match between Wales and Tonga was also played at the ground in 1997. Swansea Corporation discussed raising the capacity to 70,000 or even 82,000, however, the ground has been used to host three Welsh womens internationals. The first womens international at Swansea was in April 1999 against England, Swansea RFC defeated New Zealand 11-3 at St Helens on 28 September 1935, becoming the first club side to beat the All Blacks. Swansea also defeated world champions Australia 21-6 in November 1992, when Australia played their first match of their Welsh Tour, between 1919 and 1952, St Helens was also the home of Swansea Uplands RFC until the club sought its new home in Upper Killay. During the 1975 Rugby League World Cup, Australia defeated Wales 18-6 in front of 11,112 fans, the two sides again played at Swansea as part of the 1978 Kangaroo tour with the Kangaroos winning 8-3 before a crowd of 4,250. List of international rugby matches played at St Helens. List of Wales International football matches played at St Helens and it was in this ground in 1968 that Sir Garfield Sobers hit the first six sixes in one over in First-Class cricket. Sobers was playing as captain of Nottinghamshire against Glamorgan, Wales Minor Counties Cricket Club, who have played minor counties cricket since 1988, use the ground as a home base

38.
Gloucestershire Rugby Football Union
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The Gloucestershire Rugby Football Union is the union responsible for rugby union in the county of Gloucestershire, England and is one of the constituent bodies of the national Rugby Football Union. Formed in 1878, it has won the county championship on numerous occasions, the Union was formed at a meeting held at Gloucester in September,1878. At that meeting, the clubs represented were Clifton RFC, Gloucester RFC, Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester RFC, Rockleage, Stroud, and Cheltenham White Cross. The Union was formed due to the efforts of J. D. Miller, J. H. Dunn. All of whom were amongst the Unions first officers, for many years, the playing strength depended almost entirely on the Clifton and Gloucester Clubs. In the first five seasons the Union side only lost two of seventeen fixtures in Inter-County matches, the RFU recognised its success by electing in 1880 J. D. Miller to represent the West of England on the central executive. Ironically, the side then went through a period in which they had a very poor record. From 1883 to 1889 the team played only 10 times and of these 6 were lost,3 drawn and it was noted that the fortunes of the county side mirrored the success of the Gloucester City club side. When the Gloucester City side revived in the early 1890s, so to did the County, in the first year of the County Championship Gloucestershire were the winners in the South-Western group, but when they entered the second phase, they were crushed by Lancashire. From 1984 all Championship finals were played at Twickenham, many notable players have represented the county. British and Irish Lions John Gordon ABear Mike Teague Mike Burton England internationals J. A. Bush W.0, moberly H. C. Baker Wales internationals S. H. Nicholls W. Watts G. Rowles Scotland internationals H. L. Evans H. F. In its early days, only Gloucester City was rated as a first class side, since then, the fortunes of the constituent clubs has varied enormously

39.
Bristol
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Bristol is a city and county in South West England with a population of 449,300 in 2016. The district has the 10th largest population in England, while the Bristol metropolitan area is the 12th largest in the United Kingdom, the city borders North Somerset and South Gloucestershire, with the cities of Bath and Gloucester to the south-east and north-east, respectively. Iron Age hill forts and Roman villas were built near the confluence of the rivers Frome and Avon, Bristol received a royal charter in 1155 and was historically divided between Gloucestershire and Somerset until 1373, when it became a county of itself. From the 13th to the 18th century, Bristol was among the top three English cities after London in tax receipts, Bristol was surpassed by the rapid rise of Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham in the Industrial Revolution. Bristol was a place for early voyages of exploration to the New World. On a ship out of Bristol in 1497 John Cabot, a Venetian, in 1499 William Weston, a Bristol merchant, was the first Englishman to lead an exploration to North America. At the height of the Bristol slave trade, from 1700 to 1807, the Port of Bristol has since moved from Bristol Harbour in the city centre to the Severn Estuary at Avonmouth and Royal Portbury Dock. Bristols modern economy is built on the media, electronics and aerospace industries. The city has the largest circulating community currency in the U. K. - the Bristol pound, which is pegged to the Pound sterling. It is connected to London and other major UK cities by road, rail, sea and air by the M5 and M4, Bristol Temple Meads and Bristol Parkway mainline rail stations, and Bristol Airport. The Sunday Times named it as the best city in Britain in which to live in 2014 and 2017, the most ancient recorded name for Bristol is the archaic Welsh Caer Odor, which is consistent with modern understanding that early Bristol developed between the River Frome and Avon Gorge. It is most commonly stated that the Saxon name Bricstow was a calque of the existing Celtic name, with Bric a literal translation of Odor. Alternative etymologies are supported with the numerous variations in Medieval documents with Samuel Seyer enumerating 47 alternative forms. The Old English form Brycgstow is commonly used to derive the meaning place at the bridge, utilizing another form, Brastuile, Rev. Dr. Shaw derived the name from the Celtic words bras, or braos and tuile. The poet Thomas Chatterton popularised a derivation from Brictricstow linking the town to Brictric and it appears that the form Bricstow prevailed until 1204, and the Bristolian L is what eventually changed the name to Bristol. Iron Age hill forts near the city are at Leigh Woods and Clifton Down, on the side of the Avon Gorge, a Roman settlement, Abona, existed at what is now Sea Mills, another was at the present-day Inns Court. Isolated Roman villas and small forts and settlements were scattered throughout the area. Bristol was founded by 1000, by about 1020, it was a centre with a mint producing silver pennies bearing its name

40.
Twickenham Stadium
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Twickenham Stadium is a rugby union stadium in Twickenham, south west London, England. Owned by the body of rugby union in England, the Rugby Football Union. The RFU headquarters are based in the stadium and it is the second largest stadium in the UK, after Wembley Stadium, and the fourth largest in Europe. Twickenham is often referred to as the home of rugby union, the stadium, owned and operated by the RFU, hosts rugby union fixtures year round. It is the home of the English rugby union team, who nearly all their home games at the stadium. Twickenham hosts Englands home Six Nations matches, as well as inbound touring teams from the Southern Hemisphere, apart from its relationship with the national team, Twickenham is the venue for a number of other domestic and international rugby union matches. It is also the venue for the final of the Aviva Premiership as well as the season-opening London Double Header, Big Game, anglo-Welsh Cup, Heineken Cup and Champions Cup finals have also been held here in the past. Sold out Tests against New Zealand and South Africa at Crystal Palace saw the RFU realise the benefit of owning their own ground. Committee member William Williams and treasurer William Cail led the way to purchasing a 10.25 acre market garden in Twickenham in 1907 for £5,500 12s 6d, the first stands were constructed the following year. Before the ground was purchased, it was used to grow cabbages, after further expenditure on roads, the first game, between Harlequins v. Richmond, was played on 2 October 1909, and the first international, England v. Wales, on 15 January 1910. At the time of the English-Welsh game, the stadium had a capacity of 20,000 spectators. During World War I the ground was used for cattle, horse, king George V unveiled a war memorial in 1921. In 1926, the first Middlesex Sevens took place at the ground, in 1927 the first Varsity Match took place at Twickenham for the first time. On 19 March 1938, BBC Television broadcast the England – Scotland match from Twickenham, in 1959, to mark 50 years of the ground, a combined side of England and Wales beat Ireland and Scotland by 26 points to 17. Coming into the last match of the 1988 season, against the Irish, the Twickenham crowd had only seen one solitary England try in the previous two years, and at half-time against Ireland they were 0–3 down. During the second half a remarkable transformation took place and England started playing a game many had doubted they were capable of producing. A 0–3 deficit was turned into a 35–3 win, with England scoring six tries and this day also saw the origins of the adoption of the negro spiritual Swing Low, Sweet Chariot as a terrace song. In the 35–3 win against Ireland, three of Englands tries were scored by Chris Oti, a player who had made a reputation for himself that season as a speedster on the left wing

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Griquas (rugby)
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Griquas are a South African rugby union team that participates in the annual Currie Cup tournament. Their home ground is Griqua Park in Kimberley and they draw their players mostly from Northern Cape Province and they have won the Currie Cup three times – in 1899,1911 and 1970 – and the Vodacom Cup a joint-record five times. The rugby team was established in 1886 in the former British colony of Griqualand West, the Currie Cup became South Africas domestic prize, and Griqualand West first won it in 1899. Griqualand West subsequently won the Currie Cup in 1911, after the introduction of official annual championships in 1969, Griqualand West won the final the next season, defeating Northern Transvaal 11–9 to claim their third title. Since then, Griquas have not won the Currie Cup, the majority of Griquas supporters hail from the Northern Cape province of South Africa, most notably in and around Kimberley where the team plays their home games. Their tradition rivals are Western Province, a rivalry that stems back to the earliest days of the Currie Cup when Griqualand West were a dominant force in South African rugby. Since the 1970s, a rivalry has also developed with neighbours the Free State Cheetahs in what has become known as the central derby. Griquas are nicknamed the Peacock Blues, the following players are contracted to Griquas for 2017, Official website

Oxford is a city in the South East region of England and the county town of Oxfordshire. With an estimated 2016 …

From top left to bottom right: Oxford skyline panorama from St Mary's Church; Radcliffe Camera; High Street from above looking east; University College; High Street by night; Natural History Museum and Pitt Rivers Museum.